THREE-POWER TREATY

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 169, 12 April 1930, Page 11

THREE-POWER TREATY

AGREEMENT REACHED AT NAVAL CONFERENCE THE TONNAGE DISTRIBUTIONS FIVE-POWER INSTRUMENT HOPED FOR United Press Association.—By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright (Rec. April 11, 7 p.m.) London, April 11. The Prime Minister, Mr. Ramsay MacDonald, announced in the House of Commons that the United States, Japan, and Great Britain had reached agreement on a naval programme, including all categories of ships. It is understood that the tonnages under the Three-Power Agreement will be as follow: —• Eight-inch Cruisers. Destroyers. Tons. Tons. British Empire 146,800 British Empire 150,000 United States 180,000 United States 150,000 Japan 108,400 Japan 105,500 Six-inch Cruisers. British Empire 192,200 Submarines — United States .. 149,500 Each, 52,700 tons. Japan 100,450

MR. MACDONALD’S STATEMENT TERMS OF AGREEMENT BEING DRAFTED British Wireless. Rugby, April 10. In a statement in the House of Commons regarding the Naval Conference, the Prime Minister, Mr. Ramsay MacDonald said: “I am happy to state that this forenoon an agreement was finally reached between the United States, Japan, and Great Britain on a naval programme, Including all categories of ships. The terms of agreement are now being drafted. They will follow very closely the figures announced last September and October during the negotiations with the United States, and they show substantial reductions. A White Paper will be prepared. “From time to time since the opening of the Conference various points of disagreement which have held up progress towards disarmament have been settled, and these, it Is hoped, brought together in one instrument, will be signed by five Powers? The differences in the naval requirements of France and Italy have not so far been resolved. At a meeting early this evening between the French, Italian, and British delegations it was decided that, as such substantial agreement had been come to, it was both unnecessary and undesirable to keep the full body of delegates sitting in London for a settlement of difficulties which primarily concerned those three delegations, and so we shall propose, that at a plenary session to be held early next week the agreement now.,come to shall be signed and the Conference adjourned on the understanding that France, Italy, and ourselves shall continue our efforts to come to an agreement In conjunction with that which has been reached between the United States, Japan, and ourselves.” COURSE OF NEGOTIATIONS TREATY OF THREE PARTS PROPOSED British Wireless. Kugby, April 10. Following a meeting early this morning between the Prime Minister, Mr. MacDonald, and Mr. Stimson, head of the United States delegation to the London Naval Conference, a further meeting of the British, American, and Japanese delegations was held at St. James’s Palace. Recent meetings of the representatives of these three Powers have been engaged on the combination of outservations attached by the Japanese Government to its acceptance of the naval tonnage proposals forwarded to Tokio, with the full concurrence of the British, as the result of a compromise reached by the United States and Japanese delegations in London. Progress with the examination of these reservations has been smooth, and at the close of to-day s meeting it was officially announced that a complete agreement had been reached on the outstanding points. Efforts to secure a full Five-Power Agreement were not abandoned when to-day’s important series of meetings began. On a number of technical matters the five Powers are in agreement, and it' is understood that the question of whether these should be embodied in treaty form, to be signed by all the Powers represented at the Conference,

was discussed in Conference quarters to-day. The newspapers state that the broad outlines of the form which such an agreement might take were considered to-day at the headquarters of the French delegation, when Mr. Stimson, accompanied by his colleague, Mr. Dwight Morrow, met M. Briand. Proposed Form of Instrument. The proposal, which is, of course, purely tentative, and is one of several which are under consideration unofficially, is said to comprise three parts, of which Parts One and Two might be signed by all five Powers, and Part Three by Britain, the United States and Japan. It is suggested that Part One should preserve the agreement reached between the delegations on the subject of what is called a naval holiday in capital ships and large aircraft carriers, and the speeding-up of scrapping should embody a table which represents an agreed compromise between the category and global methods of limiting, naval tonnage, and should apply definitions of exempt and special ships which lie outside these categories. Part Two, it is stated, relates to the methods for humanising submarine warfare, upon which agreement was reached in committee among the representatives of the five Powers this week. Within this framework it is suggested that a ThreePower Agreement might be embodied, and this would be dealt with in Part Three of the proposed draft. .More Far-Reaching Agreement Sought. Efforts to secure a more far-reaching agreement as the outcome of the conference, however, continued throughout the day, and lasted until late this evening. The French and British delegations met before noon. Shortly after noon Mr. MacDonald and Mr. Henderson were in conversation with the Italian Ambassador and Signor Rossi. The British Empire delegation had a meeting later, and at 6.30 to-night M. Briand visited Mr. MacDonald at his Downing Street residence to review once more the position of the Conference. An official communique says: ‘The French. Italian, and United Kingdom delegations met at 10 Downing Street, this evening. The present state of the negotiations are considered with a view to report to the heads of the delegations on Friday morning. The heads of the delegations will tomorrow proceed with the drafting of the treaty which will emerge from the Conference. What will probably be the final plenary meeting apart from that for signing the treaty will be held on Monday or Tuesday. OUTSTANDING "POINTS POLISHED OFF Loudon, April 10. “The situation is very active,’-’ explained the British spokesman at the Naval Conference. “Mr. Stimson and Mr. MacDonald met. and later the English, Americans, and Japanese conferred and polished off the last outstanding points, leaving the way clear to the conclusion of a Three-Power Treaty.” The spokesman said that the European activities showed that hone of some sort of a Five-Power Pact had not been abandoned. WILL STOP NAVAL CONSTRUCTION Washington, April 10. After discussing the general naval situation with President Hoover, Representative French, of Idaho, Chairman of the House Appropriations Naval Subcommittee, predicted on Thursday that the Naval Treaty would stop naval construction competition among the nations.